No Matter How You Slice It
by James Eric Oliver
Summary: Lily takes an order and meets a familiar couple. Pairing Rily/Mysterious familiar couple.


Disclaimer: I own nothing except the thoughts in my head. Not too sure about those as it stands.

Rating: K+...I think that fits.

Pairing: Rily, Mystery couple, and the couple that is there at the beginning

**No matter how you slice it**

It was somewhat of a slow day at Jungle Karma Pizza. They had an ample amount of customers, yet it wasn't overflowing with huge numbers of kids of groups of high school students. Fran was busy explaining in detail the wonders of triple cheese garlic bread to a small family of four. Theo was dazzling kids, from what could only be one half of a soccer team, with his Pizza spinning as he served them. With Casey and RJ in the kitchen, that left Lily to walk the floor, greet new customers and check on the ones she previously helped.

As she was checking on the regular couple in the booth closest to the door, that had been there since she had started working, she heard the door chime as a yet another couple walked in the door. Picking up two menus she eyed them for a second, She couldn't place it but she felt as if she knew them somehow. Walking up to the tall man with short spiky black hair and a goatee dressed in black and his girlfriend dressed in mainly yellow with a similar hair color to her own. Smiling brightly at them she handed the menu's and motioned for them to follow her.

"Hi! Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. Would you like me to show you to a booth or a table?" she asked pausing a bit in her stride before continuing.

"Hmm, I guess a booth would be nice. We rarely get to enjoy a meal at a booth" spoke the man in black with a light grey shirt jacket as he hugged his girlfriend closer to him.

"Well there was that time at Red Lobster. Although, that little kid banging the fish tank wasn't too pleasant" his girlfriend remarked as she took her seat in the booth first.

Lily smiled to her self as she passed the menus and made sure the table was stocked accordingly before taking out her notepad to write down their orders. The girl picked up her menu first and smiled at the first choice she saw.

"Could I get the 'Fiesta Flare' Pizza? Just like a personal pan" the girl, who upon closer inspection Lily noted that she must be about five years older than her.

"Sure, although I have to warn you that's one of RJ's 'tongue scorcher' pizzas. You might need something cold and lots of it to eat it. How about some lemonade to go with it? It's freshly made" Lily asked as she jotted down the order.

"That'd be great thanks" the slightly older girl smiled back at her, brushing her wavy long hair away from her face pulling it back a bit so it framed her face.

Turning her attention to the older man she noticed that they both had similar bracelets. The man's with a black trim and what appeared to be a black gem of some kind, the girl's was similar yet with a yellow trim complete with a yellow gem, both had similar claw like embossed marks on them. She soon caught her self staring and snapped out of it as she heard the man place his order.

"I have to ask before I actually order this, the 'Dragon Explosion Curry' Pizza? Just what exactly is that one like" the man asked raising an eyebrow and looking up at Lily while pointing at the 'eat at your own risk' notice after the name.

Lily smiled and shook her head lightly. RJ just had to have a 'warning label' after his pizzas. Composing herself, so she wouldn't laugh, she promptly replied to the man's question.

"Well to be honest, I've never had that one" Lily replied while turning her head quickly and motioning to the couple directly across from the one she was talking to.

"You see those two?" she said pointing to the guy with long wavy brown hair in a loose pony tail and the girl across from him with glasses and long wavy yet curly dark brown hair.

"They're usually the couple that comes in here and eats it. The guy used to eat it all the time, but his girlfriend's gotten him to switch to some thing they can share when they come in" she replied while double checking her order.

"Aww, that's sweet. What are they having now, if it's okay to ask that" asked the girl as she was browsing the menu.

"No, it's okay. They decided to share the 'Bengal Tiger' Pizza. It's something of a Thai Indian fusion, just in a pizza" Lily replied before realizing that she had forgotten to answer the man's question.

"The Dragon Explosion Curry, from what I've heard, is essentially like a Japanese curry in a bowl combined with the curry bread and sort of a potato crust. It sells a lot and those two over there like it enough to get it more than once" she said as she prepared to take the order.

"It sounds great to me. If you could just show me which way the rest room is that'd be great" the guy remarked as Lily wrote down his order deciding to add on a glass of water, along with the lemonade, as the pizza was more than a bit spicy.

"Sure, it's past the pinball machine and to the right at the first door" she exclaimed making sure she had everything correct with the orders.

Directing the man to the restroom, she walked the order back to the kitchen and made sure they were well stocked with lemonade and water for later. As she checked on all of her tables, she noticed a slight change in shifts as RJ worked the prep table in front and Theo joined Casey in the back. While making note of everything Lily passed the floor, checking that the empty tables were stocked and that the few customers of hers that were still there were content.

While Theo brought the pizzas to the table, Lily checked on the other couple she was waiting on. Making sure everything was okay as they paid for their lunch, the girl with brown curly hair and glasses thanked Lily yet again and waved as she walked arm in arm with her boyfriend out the door.

Lily smiled at the couple as they left. While she was always looking out for her team, and making sure she was a good friend to Fran at the same time Lily rarely had much time to herself. While she thought on it she didn't even have a boyfriend, not that she'd choose either Casey or Theo. The two were so much like a part of her family it would be a bad idea to even think about them in any other way than friendship. Her eyes and thoughts once again turned to the couple happily eating their pizza, she wondered if she'd ever be able to be that happy as her eyes drifted towards her employer quickly before handing out menus to the arriving customers. As she seated the customers and placed their orders, she noticed the girl from earlier in mainly yellow come up to her.

"Hey, I wanted to know if we could have a box for the leftovers? Those were great choices. My boyfriend was seriously impressed by the Curry Pizza. The 'Fiesta Flare brought back great memories of my mom's taco night, we're really enjoying it here. I think you guys just earned two more regular customers" the girl exclaimed earning a bright smile from Lily.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry I didn't get you one earlier" Lily replied snapping out of her brief daze as she handed the girl a box for her pizza.

"Thanks" the girl replied while noting that lily had been staring at the chef in white with the orange apron "Hey don't worry about it. I can relate to spacing out like that. I've done it before" she said with a laugh.

"You know, you guys make a really cute couple. Have you guys had...problems with the age difference?" The newest Yellow Ranger didn't want to pry but the question was nagging her. The girl smiled and glanced knowingly towards her boyfriend.

"A little, but people are finally looking past the age and who he was when they saw that we were happy together. Its not often you can find someone, no matter what age, who would be willing to sacrifice so much to be with you." The girl glanced over to the owner of the Pizzeria.

"I can see some of the looks I was known for in your eyes when you look at him. When you get the courage to tell him how you feel, do it. You won't regret it." The girl in black on Yellow told her with a smirk before returning to her table to finish what was left of her meal.

Lily smiled and stared back at RJ wondering if she'd be able to tell him how she felt. She noticed the guy paying and walking back to the girl helping her with the food as they started to leave. Lily sighed softly, she couldn't help but notice how happy they were as they left arm in arm, content to be with each other. Glancing back at RJ before she started to bus the table off, she knew that one day she'd be that happy. That her choice would be the right one, that it'd be love no matter how it was sliced.


End file.
